Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
“Classical deterrence theory has long held that the threat of a mild punishment imposed reliably and immediately has a much greater deterrent effect than the threat of a severe punishment that is delayed and uncertain.” From Jeffrey Rosen, “Prisoners of Parole” N.Y. Times Magazine, 10 Jan 2010.
People today want high quality health care at lower cost (to be honest, people throughout history have always wanted better quality and lower cost). However, defining the ‘value’ of medical services is not easy. In fact, it is often difficult for companies to demonstrate to customers that they provide superior value. Joe Paduda has a…
The latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk is up at Colorado Health Insurance Insider.
How is the health care labor market in your area? HWS Enterprises put together a gauge of the healthcare workforce labor demand throughout 30 large metropolitan regions in the United States. The results for Q4 are available here. The strongest healthcare labor markets are Sacramento, Riverside, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Dallas. The weakest is New York…
From a letter in Health Affairs: In 1996 Pfizer came to Kano to administer a test of the drug Trovan for a meningitis outbreak. One hundred children were given Trovan, and another hundred were given chloramphenicol, a drug approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Of the 200 children, eleven died due to Trovan and…
Obama Health Care Marks Hit New Low. Do vitamin supplements do any good? Will Google be a utility? An electricity utility? Having appointed city officials lowers a city’s cost of borrowing. Health care statistics on powerpoint. Chinese Drug ‘Rehabilitation’ Centers Deny Treatment, Allow Forced Labor. Number of uninsured Americans: 45.4 million.
Megan McArdle broke a story that Jon Gruber, a famous MIT health economist, was paid $300,000 by the Obama Administration for “special studies and analysis” of the health care bills. Did this sway his opinion on the evaluation on endorsing various legislative bills? I would say no. Dr. Gruber is a well respected health economist…
I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea, an interesting book chronicling of an amazing man dedicated towards bringing schools to rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The book describes Greg Mortenson’s single minded purpose and reinforces the saying that the pen is mighter than the sword. In fact, according to one Pakistani Brigadier General,…
Mayo Clinic to Medicare patients: pay $1500 annual fee. Are drugs are best for tackling mental illnesses? Consumer Reports Directed Health Care. Reflections on 30 years of ward attending. The costs and benefits of grad school. Mostly costs liberal arts grad students.
Here are some writing tips from “Writing Economics” by Robert Neugeboren with Mireille Jacobson: Outline. Organize your ideas into an argument with the help of an outline. Define the important terms. Use the Active Voice. Put Statements in Positive Form. Don’t write “Many day-traders did not pay attention to the warnings of experts.” Instead use…